Kurdishmedia-Since the division of their homeland between Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria in 1923, there is no doubt the vast majority of Kurds in the these countries have been subject to discrimination and mistreatment, including illegal arrests, imprisonment, torture, kidnappings, and even assassinations and massacres by these oppressive regimes.

Each of those countries’ justification for their brutality against Kurds is that Kurds demand their rights on their own land, Kurdistan. Unfortunately, Kurds are not only mistreated while they are within the boundaries of those countries colonizing Kurdistan. Even Kurds who have managed to escape the brutality of those non-democratic nations and have resettled in other countries, in recent years are facing similar mistreatment worldwide.

To summarize the Kurdish people’s situation in the case of those living in countries colonizing Kurdistan, the conflicting views can be stated as follows: Kurds almost unanimously, regardless of which part of Kurdistan they inhabit, support the struggle for an independent, greater Kurdistan. They also respect the Peshmerga--the Kurdish men and women who have sacrificed their lives as resistance fighters to make such a Kurdish state possible--as patriotic revolutionaries and national heroes. On the contrary, the countries dominating Kurdistan consider the Kurdish freedom fighters as “terrorists” and view whoever supports them as traitors and given the same low status as those who fight for the Kurdish identity. These views have been held by governments for decades in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. In the late 1990s, when a German woman who had joined the Kurdish freedom fighters was captured by Turkish forces and taken to a Turkish court, the judge asked her where she was captured. “In Kurdistan”, she answered. When the judge supposedly responded, “There is no country called Kurdistan,” the German woman replied, “That’s why we fight.”

As for the Diaspora Kurds who have managed to escape from those brutal countries’ mistreatment and the denial of their Kurdish national identity (and/or who have come into conflict with Islamic extremists for being secular), hundreds of thousands have found third countries to live in. Many of these Kurds have become citizens of those countries and consider them as their second home--but still face difficult circumstances. Perhaps the main reason for this is that most ‘westerners’ are unable to differentiate Kurds from Arabs—and Arabs they view as prime suspects for fundamentalist Islamic activities and threats worldwide. Although the majority of Kurds are Muslims, in their countries of origin they are treated as Kurds rather than as fellow Muslims, and in some cases they are not considered as Muslims at all. The defunct Iraqi regime’s military campaign against the Kurdish people in 1988, code-named the ‘Anfal’ (‘spoils of war’, according to the Quran), massacred 182,000 innocent civilians, and illustrates this point. For their part, Kurds also respect and identify more with their Kurdish nationality than with their religious faith. Unfortunately, however, due to their skin color and/or where they were born, in many western countries Kurds may be treated as “terrorist” suspects.

When Kurds in the Diaspora face mistreatment or discrimination, they feel that they have been victimized twice. For decades they have been victims of terrorist states that conquered Kurdistan, leading them to be dispersed around the world. State terrorism has taken place including attacks by the Turkish military secret service against Kurdish civilians, extralegal executions, the growing numbers of torture cases in police detention in Turkey, Iran, and Syria, and kidnappings and assassinations of influential Kurdish politicians in Kurdistan and Europe. Unfortunately, most of the time Kurds pay the price for what some extremist Islamic Arabs, Turks, Iranians, and other anti-western organizations stand for. Considering themselves non-Arabs and non-fundamentalist Muslims, but rather as being pro-democracy and pro-western, Diaspora Kurds are nonetheless being treated as suspects while traveling abroad, and even while living in their adopted countries, which they consider their second home.

As a result of the September 11 attacks, the various UK incidents, as well as the arrest of 17 Islamic suspects in Toronto last summer, Diaspora Kurds accept the security measures required by the countries they live in or travel to. Yet these security measures should not be taken against them merely due to their physical appearance or where they were born. Western officials, especially the police, must understand that Kurds have been victims of terrorism for decades and that is the prime reason for their lives spent in exile in other countries. Non-Kurds should also accept Kurds’ sensitivity regarding affirming their Kurdish identity and the word “Kurdistan.” Whenever I have been asked where I was from, or if I happened to return from a homeland trip, my answers would have always been “Kurdistan.” Unfortunately, however, most of the time, even in Canada, I get an insulting reply: “Kurdistan is not an official country; tell us Turkey, Iran, Syria or Iraq.” To support my argument, I respond, “Palestine is also a non-official country but no one would dare tell an Arab that he or she is from Israel!”

Even as a proud Canadian citizen and traveling with a Canadian passport, I have personally endured many times incidents of mistreatment and discrimination in different countries--including Canada--perhaps due to the way I look, or my birthplace, Iraq, which I have never considered as my own country. Although discrimination is against the law and is not a major problem in Canada, on my recent return from my first ever driving to the US, I was asked by a Canadian Customs officer, “Where were you born?” Although I was holding a Canadian citizenship card as the other Canadians did at the border, I was asked further questions and dealt with almost as a suspect! On every single trip returning to Canada from abroad--as is the story with so many Kurds--at the airports I’ve gone through “multi inspection” security measures and being almost investigated as a suspect by the Canada Customs officers.

Diaspora Kurds feel that they have been twice victims of terrorism; first at the hands of the state terrorist countries who have conquered Kurdistan, and second by paying the ongoing price of being (wrongly) suspected of identifying with what extremist Arab, Turkish, and Islamic groups stand for. The Kurdish people do, however, continue to stand for our struggle for an independent Kurdistan. The first ever democratic election in Iraq (which occurred in 2005), is an example of this. There was a non-official referendum as an alternative option for Kurds who were born within Iraqi boundaries and who were eligible to vote both inside and outside of the country, while electing Iraq’s parliament members. In the referendum they had the chance to vote on whether Kurdistan should remain within Iraq or become independent. The result was that 98.8% of the voters chose an independent Kurdistan. This became a wake-up call for those who would say that Kurds prefer to stay within the borders of Iraq, and it demonstrated to the world the reality of Kurds’ true aspirations. As a former US Ambassador to the UN, Richard Holbrooke, wrote recently, “You can call this place Kurdistan, as its citizens do, or northern Iraq, as the Turks do. But either way, the overwhelming majorities (98 percent in a 2005 referendum) of its 4 million people do not want to remain part of Iraq.”

The evolution from virtual mountain journalism to a flourishing and wide ranging media in Kurdistan has been remarkable.

Despite a number of flaws, in the short period of Kurdish autonomy, just like greater society, we must note the great strides that have been made in the Kurdish press. At the fulcrum of new age journalism has been the Kurdish Globe - an outspoken tribune of the Kurds and the crux of innovative reporting. The basis of the Kurdish Globe ethos has been emphasis of the realities of the current era and the need for peaceful co-existence with all parties.

Kurdish Globe represents diversity of the Kurdish voice covering wide-ranging elements of our society and culture away from many rigid and politicised mediums.

Perhaps the biggest danger and greatest threat as our ancestors would truly remind us to the current Kurdish steam train is 'magroree' or taking for grant. We must not forget that our post-Ottoman existence has been characterised by nothing but wide-scale denial, persecution and treatment as second-class citizen by ruling nations of a selfishly carved Kurdistan.

Despite a number of limitations in our autonomous existence, remarkable gains have been made in the short period since 1991. With our own armed forces, parliament, a booming economy and a kingmaker rule in the new Iraq, Kurds have started to receive the global recognition that they deserve.

However, from a standing start these gains may be significant but for a nation finally free from obscurity and oppression, it may sway attention away from the greater strides still needed to become a truly dominant factor in the Middle East and on the international stage.

Our fight continues. Whereas the heroic struggle for several decades stemmed from the famous Kurdish plains, the battle continues with our pens and voices as well as our hearts in the new arena of politics and diplomacy, using our vast natural riches to bolster our existence, strategic standing and credibility.

Peaceful co-existence is crucial and prosperous relationships with our neighbours based on mutual respect are paramount. The days of bullying tactics and threats are over. The Kurds are firmly on the map, have proven themselves as a model democracy in the Middle East and as the only island of stability and peace in a sea of violence and sectarianism that is Iraq.

Perhaps dreams of independence are a natural right but having waited decades to liberate from tyranny, time is on the side of the Kurds. Much work remains unaccomplished to maintain the current status quo let alone before leaps towards dreams and idealism are realised.

Economy is highly dependent with shortage of water, electricity, key fuels and mass migration of youths at the pinnacle of concerns only made tougher with an expectant population and high inflation. Without consolidation of regional boundaries, greater international recognition and a self-sufficient economic hub - the region will always be at the mercy of neighbouring wolves.

2007 is a significant year for the Kurds. As fundamental as the liberation of Iraq in 2003 and as significant as the gains in the post Saddam elections, this year is a historical milestone for all parts of Kurdistan. The referendum in Kirkuk marks one of the last momentous cogs in the Kurdish renaissance. The return of a historical city with the vast riches with it is one further stride towards self-sufficiency and control of own destiny - the crucial factors in long-term survival.

In the short-term, the strength and position of the Kurds has placed them as a prosperous entity in Iraq, perhaps Americas only true allies and a force finally to be reckoned with in Turkey and beyond. However, winning the respect of neighbours and the support of the US is not necessarily the passport to future assurance.

With the death of Saddam a new dawn can finally ensue. However, brining down one symbol of tyranny will never guarantee prosperity. It must not be forgotten that only a man is dead but the roots of Arabic nationalistic evil that created the very dictator persists and grows.

The time has come to further international education on the Kurds and Kurdistan and placate our place on the map even on albeit ideological borders. Only greater international recognition and credibility will establish long-term goals.

A newly announced Royal Dutch/Shell consortium is likely to launch Iraq's first post-Hussein energy project.

Analysis

Energy supermajor Royal Dutch/Shell announced March 14 that it has formed a consortium with a number of Turkish energy firms to bid on natural gas projects in Iraq, with the intent of building a natural gas line from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. With Iraq's new oil law edging toward realization, this Shell consortium will likely be the first to launch a successful major energy project in post-Hussein Iraq.

Of the many obstacles to an Iraqi energy renaissance, the most significant are:

The ongoing insurgency that attacks petroleum infrastructure. In the north those attacks cluster around the Sunni Arab city of Baiji, through which all energy output for the Kurdish regions flows.

The unwillingness of the world's supermajors to jump into an insurgent-wracked, politically shattered Iraq, where investment would exist in a legal vacuum.

Because it avoids two of these problems, the new consortium will most likely prove to be the first big success project.

First, the project does not aim to tap existing infrastructure but instead export natural gas -- not oil -- north to Turkey. Though the new pipeline will parallel the often-bombed Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, it will only do so for the length that runs on Turkish territory. Shell and its partners will construct the line to avoid Baiji and take a more direct route to the Turkish border that runs exclusively through insurgent-free, and relatively well-patrolled, Iraqi Kurdistan. Incidentally, Saddam Hussein built the oil pipeline through Baiji specifically to frustrate any Kurdish efforts to attain autonomy.

Second, the Turks are involved from the get-go and at a state level. Turkey's energy minister himself has hinted that he has taken part in the negotiations and the most likely partners for Shell are two state companies: oil company Turkiye Petrolleri and pipeline firm Botas. This deal explicitly has involved Ankara directly in the decision making. Additionally, the natural gas will be flowing to Turkey directly, so not only will Turkey be economically benefiting from the deal, it will have legal, economic, political and geographic control over its success. Turkey might still consider grinding the Kurds into dust to be the best option, but barring that, full control over the Kurds' economic fortunes is a close second. Ironically, the deal paves the way for an awkward codependence between the Turks (who will use the natural gas) and the Kurds (who will sell it).

That just leaves the issue of supermajor tentativeness. With the first two issues addressed, Shell seems far more willing to take the plunge, and it certainly sports the technology, experience and capital to make the deal successful. Now the only obstacle remaining is for the Kurds and the rest of the Iraqis to hammer out a final oil law. Though that task is both gargantuan and complex and is not to be belittled, it does not diminish the likelihood that the Shell-led consortium will be Iraq's best bet for a successful and substantial energy project.